


Truth and/or Drink

by BabelFishing



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drinking, Drinking Games, Drunken Flirting, Drunkenness, Embarrassment, F/F, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Intrusive Thoughts, Kissing, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Pining, Roommates, Slow Burn, Tension, Truth or Dare, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Wistful, past relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26647702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabelFishing/pseuds/BabelFishing
Summary: What's a few personal questions between friends? A lot, as it turns out, based on Adora and Glimmer's romantic history. For a time, both women thought that they could make their living arrangement work platonically. But after a few rounds of a classic drinking game, they both reveal some truths that help reconcile their past while also making it harder for them to live together as "just friends."
Relationships: Adora & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	Truth and/or Drink

**Author's Note:**

> I actually started this one-shot back in July, but couldn't get the pacing right for the longest time. Turns out, dialogue-driven stories don't always come out fully-formed, even after the right inspiration strikes. But it's done now, so I hope you enjoy it. Play the real "Truth or Drink" game, too - all of the questions in this story are drawn directly from it.

“Okay, explain this game to me again.”

While facing the kitchen counter, Glimmer gestured backward to her roommate, who was setting several decks of cards on their shared kitchen table. The air in the apartment felt oddly tense, particularly for the start of game night between two friends. But the feeling was there all the same, and Adora was feeling it in force at this moment.

“So, basically, it’s sort of like ‘truth or dare’,” Adora replied, “You’ve played ‘truth or dare’, right?”

With a fifth of citrus vodka in one hand and half pint of gold tequila in the other, Glimmer turned around and set both bottles down on the table’s edge. She gave Adora a knowing grin and pointed out, “Adora, we had most of the same friends in college, remember? Of course, I’ve played ‘truth or dare.’ It was almost like a past time for us in Serenia Hall.”

Glimmer raised an eyebrow in Adora’s direction before adding, “You were there for at least one game…remember?”

Adora didn’t remember the occasion immediately, but her eyes grew wide after a few moments of recollection.

“Oh, right! You all tried to get me to talk to the ghost of Mary Hawkins as a dare!”

“And you actually tried to do it!” Glimmer laughed, recalling how Adora took the dare from her neighbor, Mermista. “I never went in that piano room during the entire time I lived in Serenia Hall and you busted in the first time you ever stepped foot in the building.”

Adora shrugged her shoulders slightly.

“I never noticed any ghostly presence in there. But who knows…maybe Mary is still haunting me now!”

Turning back toward one of the kitchen cabinets and withdrawing a couple shot glasses, Glimmer asserted, “Well, if she was, then she never interrupted us.”

After realizing what she’d said, Glimmer’s face grew momentarily warm. At this point, she and Adora hadn’t dated in several years and yet, it still felt so natural to flirt with the athletic blonde.

Meanwhile, Adora had been focused on shuffling the several decks of cards before her. As a result, she missed her roommate’s allusion to their many intimate evenings spent within the confines of her stuffy, air-conditioning-less room in Serenia Hall. Her concentration was broken, however, when Glimmer set several shot glasses down in front of her.

Looking up at her roommate without noticing her slight blush, Adora continued, “Oh, right, the game. Like I said, this game is like ‘truth or dare.’ But it’s called ‘truth or drink.’”

“So, to play,” Adora started in while holding up a matte white playing card, “all you basically do is read one of these cards. Then, your opponent has to answer the question. If they don’t want to, they have to take a drink.”

Glimmer nodded in reply, “That sounds simple enough. I suppose most drinking games are, at their core.”

“Yeah, Mermista said the same thing when she let me borrow it,” Adora noted, “Actually, she said that she had a great time playing it with Sea Hawk when they moved in together.”

Glimmer’s expression turned towards surprise. “Wait, you got this game from Mermista?”

Rising from the table, Adora confirmed what she had said. “Yeah, I thought I mentioned that…maybe not, though. We actually see each other pretty often now. The environmental charity she works for is in the same building as Etheria Technologies.”

Adora then set one of the two decks across the table from herself before opening the door to the fridge. After a bit of digging, she popped out with bottles of orange juice and cranberry juice. She shook them in her roommate’s direction while asking, “chasers?”

“We’ll see if I need them,” Glimmer replied while pulling her fist to her chest in a show of machismo.

While continuing to shake both bottles vigorously, Adora replied, “Something tells me you’ll want to when you start backing out of these questions.”

“They can’t be that bad, can they?” Glimmer questioned while snapping up a card from one of the decks. She then read off the card’s contents - “What’s something you’ve never told anyone in your family?”

Adora set both bottles of juice down on the table and pondered the question. After a moment, she responded, “I almost didn’t graduate on time because I was a credit short. But then I remembered that I had a transfer credit from a high school honors course. So, I used that to get me over the finish line.”

“Wait, seriously? You never told me that, either,” Glimmer said while tilting her head in surprise.

In truth, Adora knew why that was the case. The two had broken up earlier in her senior year at Bright Moon College, so they weren’t really talking much by the time graduation rolled around. Even now, Adora felt some regret about how their breakup had occurred, which is to say, without much clear communication. Still, she was glad that they were able to be friends, now that that was in the past.

With that in mind, Adora sensed that now was not the best time to say, “Yeah, I didn’t really tell you because we broke up a few months before I applied for graduation.” So, instead, she presented a reasonable excuse.

“Yeah, it was so busy right at the end of the semester. I think only my roommate knew about that little academic hiccup.”

At this point, Adora realized that the game ahead might get a bit uncomfortable for them both. Mermista had read off some of the other cards to her, after all, and some of them were…personal, to say the least. Adora hadn’t seen the whole deck, though, so she figured that those couple cards must have been outliers that they could skip, if need be.

With that unfounded confidence in mind, Adora implored her roommate to join her at the table.

“Hold on, just a second,” Glimmer replied as she quickly shuffled out of the kitchen and into her adjacent bedroom. A minute later, she returned with a pair of white Chuck Taylors and her wallet in hand. She tossed them down by the door, turned to Adora, and asked, “We’re still going out after this, yeah?”

Adora immediately remembered that the whole reason they were playing ‘truth or drink’ in the first place was to pre-game. Glimmer was clearly already dressed for that occasion, but Adora was still wearing the clothes she had worn to the gym a few hours earlier. Compared to the jean jacket and cherry blossom sundress ensemble that Glimmer had assembled, Adora knew that her attire was not club-ready.

“Yes, absolutely,” Adora replied a bit louder than she had intended. “But,” she continued on, “I should probably change first. No one needs to see me try to strap something on after I’ve had a few drinks.”

Glimmer bit her tongue when a snarky quip about having seen that exact scene came to mind. Even without saying anything, an image of Adora clumsily preparing herself for the bedroom after one too many drinks flashed before her eyes. This caused her to zone out for a split second, after which she snapped back and replied, “Oh, right. Go do that, I’ll wait here and…wait.”

Adora nodded in agreement and made her way back to her own room, which sat directly across from Glimmer’s. Once she was out of the room, Glimmer took a seat at the table and tried to clear her head.

Ever since she had moved in with Adora a few months back, she had been able to keep her lingering feelings for her former girlfriend tamped down. At that time, she had convinced herself that this whole arrangement was just a matter of convenience that would allow her to live closer to her new job. As a plus, she already knew and could trust Adora, so she thought that she’d make a perfectly serviceable roommate.

At the same time, though, Glimmer wasn’t going to kid herself – she knew that she never fully got over breaking up with Adora. Over two years had passed now and still, she sometimes worried that she had given up on their relationship prematurely. At this point, she wasn’t going to pursue something new against Adora’s wishes – that was strictly off the table as a matter of principle. But if Adora showed some interest, then, just maybe…

Glimmer shook her head violently to get that last thought out. That kind of wishful thinking would just lead to disappointment and she knew it. She also knew that focusing on being a good roommate and friend should be her main priority, at least within the apartment’s walls. Playing this card game that Adora brought home could easily serve both goals, as could a raucous night out on the town afterward.

 _It would almost be like back in college_ , Glimmer thought while staring at the booze bottles beside her, _but even back then, they would come home after and…_

“Alright, what do you think?”

Adora had reappeared from her room after changing in record time. Rather than the cherry red shorts and white performance top of her gym kit, the blonde now wore her old Bright Moon College letterman jacket over a light cream dress top and grey slacks. Despite the years that had passed, the red and white jacket was still a perfect fit on Adora’s athletic frame, a fact that Glimmer noticed almost immediately.

At the same time, Glimmer noticed a small accent piece that her roommate wore around her neck. It was a pendent with a teardrop-shaped charm at the end, itself set with a pearlescent stone. Glimmer recognized the article immediately because it had once spent a month or two hidden in her own dresser drawer back in Serenia Hall. It had been one of the first serious gifts she had ever bought for Adora and she still had it…and chose to wear it…now.

Spotting the pendant had caused Glimmer’s stomach to flip. But she quickly re-centered herself enough to come up with a response that wasn’t too telling. “That looks great! And you picked it out so quick,” ended up being the best she could muster.

Smiling in response to the compliment, Adora pushed back a few loose bangs and said, “Thanks! I actually had it picked out already. I’ve been looking forward to going out tonight for a while.”

 _Wait, why has she been looking forward to it_ , Glimmer loudly thought.

But Adora quickly followed up with a suitable answer, despite the question never being asked aloud.

“I know it’s been a couple years since we graduated. But since I’ve moved out here, I haven’t really met many new people. Even if I had, there’s something different about hitting the bars with someone you already have memories with, you know? Our schedules have clashed so much since you moved in, I wasn’t sure we’d ever get the chance. But hey, tonight’s the night.”

This explanation served to raise Glimmer’s pulse that much more as she wondered how carefully the blonde had chosen her words. _Don’t read into it, don’t read into it,_ Glimmer mentally reminded herself, _tonight’s about having fun. Good, platonic fun._ ”

As her mind was focused on not blurting out something regrettable, Glimmer only managed a small nod and a “yeah” after Adora finished. She didn’t want her train of thought to continue down that path, though, so she quickly added, “But hey, the night isn’t getting any younger. Get over here so we can start!”

“Alright,” Adora agreed as she passed from her doorway and back into the kitchenette. From there, she grabbed one on the chairs and plopped down with a look of excitement on her face.

For a moment, Adora just stared at Glimmer expectantly before Glimmer asked, “Soooo…who goes first?”

“Oh, right…” Adora responded with a jolt, “I don’t think there’s actually a rule for that. I can start, though!”

“Works for me,” Glimmer agreed as she drew a card from the top of the deck placed before her. She was just about to read off the card when Adora cut in, “I just remembered – Mermista said something about this deck containing cards from several sets. So, I guess there are cards for roommates, friends, and couples in these decks.”

“We’ll have to see what I’ve got here, then” Glimmer said with a shrug. She then inspected the card in her hand carefully before reading out, “what of mine do you use without asking?”

“That sounds like a ‘roommate’ card,” Adora pointed out. She then pondered the question for a moment before responding, “I suppose I did drink your almond milk a couple weeks ago. I used to buy it all the time for myself and I didn’t even think that it was yours until I was halfway through the glass.”

“I thought that jug was a little lighter…” Glimmer sneered sarcastically, “But honestly, that’s fine. I don’t drink it that quickly, so help yourself to it and most anything else I toss in the fridge. Except my peach yogurt drinks – those are all mine.”

Adora laughed at Glimmer’s single fridge-based reservation. “Oh, those were off-limits…” she added with a comparable air of sarcasm.

Glimmer’s expression then turn serious. “You didn’t…”

Glimmer’s reaction only made Adora laugh more, which cued Glimmer in on the goof. Realizing that she’d been fooled so easily, she pushed back a few of her pink locks and admitted, “Okay, you got me. But seriously, if any of those go missing…let’s just say I know where you sleep at night.”

Adora nodded as her laughter tapered off. After recomposing herself, she grabbed up a card from the deck in front of her and said, “Okay, your turn.”

The blonde then glanced over the card and noticed it was marked as being for a ‘roommate.’ So, she read it out - “do you wish we spent more time together?”

Without any delay, Glimmer replied, “That’s what we’re doing right now, right?”

“I think the question means in general,” Adora pointed out.

“In that case, yes,” Glimmer admitted, “I know we work way different schedules and all…”

Adora cut in, “Almost completely opposite schedules most days, yeah.”

Glimmer continued on, “…but still, hanging out with you has always been fun, no matter what we’re doing. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t look forward to that again when I agreed to move in.”

Adora could sense how genuine Glimmer’s answer had been, and without hesitation, either. She was trying to mostly have fun with this game, but she couldn’t help but feel a little touched by her roommate’s response. She tried not show it, though, and simply replied, “We should make this a regular occasion, then.”

With a grin, Glimmer nodded in agreement. “Clearly, we should.” In the same breath, she added, “I also think we both need to do a shot now because these questions feel pretty tame.”

Looking over at the bottles beside them, Adora initially hesitated. But then she figured the first one would be a freebie. “Okay, you’re on,” she agreed. Grabbing the tequila bottle, Adora then measured out two even shots before sliding one over to her roommate.

Glimmer looked down at the gold liquor before her, then glanced back up at Adora. “What, no salt or lime?”

“Oh, I didn’t know this was a full service bar now,” Adora laughed as she rose from the table and trotted to the fridge. After digging through the produce drawer, she retrieved a pair of limes and tossed them toward the table. They landed with a *thud* and preserved their forward momentum, necessitating swift action from Glimmer to prevent them from rolling to the floor. Adora then grabbed a ramakin of salt from one of the kitchen cabinets, pulled a knife from the nearby block, set both down on the table, and returned to her seat.

“Your fixings, Princess,” Adora lightly mocked as she gave an exaggerated bow. She then proceeded to quarter the limes and place them in one of the unoccupied shot glasses.

“Oh my god, no one has called me that in years,” Glimmer beamed back, surprised to hear her old nickname.

Adora just smiled wider and replied, “well, if the crown still fits.” As soon as she said it, though, Adora realized that her remark had sounded a bit…flirty.

 _Maybe she won’t notice_ , Adora thought, _or else if she does, she won’t think anything of it._

But Glimmer’s keen ears had noticed her roommate’s inadvertent tone. She wasn’t about to comment on it, though, especially as she felt her cheeks grow a bit pink in response. Instead, she pulled over the ramekin and pinched a bit of salt between her fingers. She then proceeded to place it directly on her tongue, followed by the full shot in a single fluid motion. The lime wasn’t far behind, either, a slice of which Glimmer bit down on eagerly.

Adora’s eyes widened a bit at the sight of her one-time partner taking the shot. That gusto had been a sight for sore eyes, and it took her back to the many nights the pair and their college friends had spent out in their (admittedly small) college town. All of that felt distant now…except for Glimmer, who was there once again, sucking on a lime wedge.

Adora then realized that her own shot still sat upon the table. “Hey, wait for me,” she exclaimed as she pulled over the ramekin. After a short breath in, the blonde repeated the same process, with the tequila burning as it went down. Some of that warmth remained in her face, making her feel more relaxed as she bit down on her own citrus slice.

Glimmer then looked across the table with a satisfied look across her face. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”

Shuddering slightly as the last of the sour lime juice rolled off her lips, Adora replied, “Okay, now I’m ready for another question.”

By the time she said it, Glimmer already had the next card in hand. For a moment, she felt a second wave of warmth rush across her face and thought it was the agave’s afterglow. But then she read the card over and discovered it to be the culprit.

“Oh, this one’s different,” she announced, before reading the card in full - “what would you think if you caught me watching porn?”

“You mean, if I caught you watching porn _again_?” Adora replied with a sly grin.

Glimmer felt her stomach drop in response as her roommate’s implication hit her like a rock. _When had she seen me…since I moved in_ … She tried to provide a more dignified response, but she only managed to stutter a couple times before intonating, “…when?”

Adora played up her best coy look. “Do you remember last week when I was up really early for that out of town conference?” Glimmer nodded, so Adora continued. “I woke up right after you got home from your shift and I may have…seen something through your door when I was getting ready to leave.”

All at once, Glimmer felt her face flush crimson with embarrassment. She had thought the door was completely closed that morning but…apparently it was still open enough to put on a show. For a moment, she opened her mouth to apologize, but then stopped herself after realizing who she was apologizing to. Even though it made Glimmer’s face burn thinking about it, she knew that the blonde had seen more of her intimate self than just a peak through an open door.

Glimmer knew she couldn’t deny what had been seen. So, she tried to play it off by saying, “Oh, I didn’t know I had an audience that morning.”

Adora felt a slight fierceness in that retort, so she replied in kind. “That’s okay. From what I could see, it was right up your alley.”

Once again, Adora realized that her tone sounded flirty, but she didn’t dwell on the thought long. Instead, she grabbed another card in preparation for the next round.

Meanwhile, Glimmer tried to re-center her thoughts again, with only minimal success. She’d only had the one shot, but she could already feel the spirit rushing to her brain.

“Sorry about that...” she gently apologized, “I reaaaally thought the door was closed. And that you weren’t awake yet.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Adora insisted, “Instead, think about how you’ll answer this.”

Adora flipped the card over in her hand. Her eyes then grew wide as she read the card’s contents aloud.

“Have you ever disliked someone I’ve dated?”

Glimmer initially raised her hand to gesture while replying. But an audible reply never came, leading her to change course and grab the vodka bottle. “I’ll drink on this one, I think” she said, without looking up to make eye contact with her roommate.

As she began to pour out her shot, Adora looked on inquisitively. “Oh, why not?”

In her head, Glimmer carefully weighed her options in replying. On one hand, she could reply honestly and tell her roommate of two months and former girlfriend of two years that she had disliked everyone she’d dated since they broke up. She could tell Adora that every time she saw a picture of her with someone new on Instagram, she felt an awful flame of jealousy inside herself that she couldn’t snuff out. She could even tell her that she thought she could get over those feelings so that she could live here, with Adora, as friends and maybe be happy with just that.

Or she could say nothing and simply pull down a second shot. It felt like the less bitter poison to swallow, anyway.

With the shot downed, Glimmer could feel its citrus notes lingering on her tongue. That slight hint of flavor managed to hold down her more honest response. In its place, she reasoned, “I don’t think my opinion on that matters.”

Adora could tell that the question had struck a chord with her roommate. Her reluctance to answer was uncharacteristic, but the question on the card had also been a bit too relevant to both players. Adora didn’t want to press the question, in any case, even if the card had claimed to be for “roommates.”

“Oh, okay then,” Adora reassured her, with a hint of disappointment in here voice. Without saying anything else, she simply gestured to Glimmer’s deck.

Glimmer took this as a cue to continue with the next round. Both shots had begun to kick in by now, which allowed her to see the small red heart in the corner of the card she drew and pay it little mind. Indeed, the pink-haired woman didn’t so much as read the card over in her head before reading it out loud.

“Do you send nudes to people you are dating?”

Adora, who had been looking down at her phone at that moment, looked up with a jolt, believing for a moment that she had misheard the question.

But before she could even get out an embarrassed stutter, Glimmer cut back in with a loud exclamation. “Wait, can I answer this one for you?” She didn’t even pause for a reply before shouting, “Yes! She does!”

As a former recipient of such elicit messages, Glimmer knew the truth of the matter. Adora knew this fact well, which is why she simply nodded sheepishly in her roommate’s direction. But in the same instant, a follow-up question popped into Adora’s head. Following in Glimmer’s example, she didn’t hold back.

“You didn’t…um…save them, did you?”

“Did I save them back then? Perhaps,” Glimmer explained while running a finger over the rim of her shot glass. “Do I have them now? Unfortunately, no. That phone met an unceremonious demise at the bottom of a coffee cup during my first post-graduation internship. So, unless someone in that office siphoned them out of my mocha, they’re gone for good.”

Much to her own surprise, Adora found herself breathing a sigh of relief. She hadn’t expected Glimmer to have saved those pictures after they broke things off. But still, she hadn’t considered what had become of those photos in the intervening years.

Not wanting the weight of this question to rest on her own shoulders alone, Adora drummed up a witty retort. “To be fair, here, you’re not innocent here, either.”

Glimmer wasn’t about to have this one turned back on herself, though. “I sure have. And you know what? I’d do it again!”

Such an assertion had a flirty tone to it, Glimmer realized a second too late. But by now, Glimmer wasn’t trying to hold back as much. After all, the game was just starting to get fun.

As she folded her arm in mock triumph, Glimmer didn’t notice her roommate grab up the next card. Adora was ready to read, though, and she went ahead without prompting – “What do your friends or family think of me?”

This question didn’t require much thought on Glimmer’s part, though she put on her best contemplative face anyway. With certainty in her voice, Glimmer explained, “I mean, we had a lot of the same friends in school, so you know what they thought of you. But my parents…my mom, she still asks about you sometimes. I know you two didn’t get off to the best start, but she really became fond of you.”

“That really feels like an honor,” Adora asserted humbly. Ever since they first met, Adora had a unique sense of respect for Angella. She had a regal air about her that felt more refined and judicious than it did pompous. If Adora had felt like being extra honest now, she could have even explained that she had always worked extra hard to impress Glimmer’s mother, just in case.

But it wasn’t her question to answer, so she just smiled and nodded. “If she ever comes to visit, let me know. I’ve missed hearing from her.”

Not wanting to lean on the sentimentality for too long, Glimmer grabbed another card without further delay. This draw did not disappoint at all, as anyone in the vicinity could tell from Glimmer’s renewed grin. While looking up from the card so that she could see her roommate’s reaction, Glimmer read out – “what is the craziest place that you’ve had sex with an ex?”

For whatever reason, Adora had expected this game to lighten up a little bit after the last few questions. But no, it was going full-force now and it wasn’t taking prisoners. But all the same, Adora felt herself clam up a bit upon fielding this question. She had an answer in mind but…she didn’t think the woman across the table from her would like it.

“Hmmmm…” Adora coyly hummed while trying to decide what to say. “You know what? I actually don’t want to answer this one.” With that, she dragged over the vodka bottle, poured an even nip, and downed it without a chaser in a flash.

“Oh, come on,” Glimmer tried to object, “I think I know the answer anyway.”

Adora simply shook her head and realized that it felt a bit heavier than just a few minutes prior. “I don’t think you do.”

Glimmer’s serious look returned again, but this time more animated by the booze inside her. “Wait…is it not when…”

This was what Adora was trying to avoid talking about, for fear of mutual embarrassment. But Adora also noticed that Glimmer was barreling ahead to ask. So, maybe her roommate’s inhibition had dropped a bit, for better or for worse.

Even so, Adora continued to shake her head in disagreement. “Nope. There was a time when I met this girl from the Fright Zone and we hit it off really quick and…”

Adora cut herself off suddenly by pulling a hand to her own mouth. “Wait, no…I said that I don’t want to answer this one.”

In a state of panicked embarrassment about what she’d already revealed, Adora reached for the vodka bottle again and poured a successive shot, which she downed without a second thought. If she had, she might have remembered that she already drank for that question.

Glimmer didn’t remind her roommate of this fact, though, and instead chose to gaze on as Adora’s cheeks turned a bit more rosy. By now, she figured that, if Adora could still handle her liquor like she had back in college, than those shots would be breaking through her reserved demeanor.

Glimmer realized that she might have started to stare, however, especially after Adora waived her hand and ask, “are you okay?”

“Oh, um, yeah,” she replied while hoping that her staring hadn’t been too noticeable. “It’s my turn, right?”

In this pattern, the pair traded questions for the better part of an hour. Old stories blossomed up along the way, as did peals of laughter and a few additional waves of embarrassment. Both women didn’t feel compelled to answer every last card, so a handful of shots were shared between them before Adora pulled a particularly poignant card.

“If you could change one thing about me, what would it be?”

By now, Glimmer was feeling ready to answer any question thrown at her, no forethought required. But this one still stuck out to her, not least because it was asking for a fairly personal critique. Glimmer had wanted a chance like this for a long time now, but unloading on her former partner felt inadvisable, at least if they wanted to continue enjoying this game. So, she tried to reel it in and keep her response from cutting too deep.

“Let me just start by saying,” Glimmer began, the lemon zest of her last shot still lingering in her throat, “that there are very few bad qualities about you. I’m being completely honest here – you’ve always been a good friend and now an even more courteous roommate.”

“But if anything,” she continued, “I would change how much you focus on your work. You always had your nose in a book before and now you always work extra hours on weekends. You’ve got to leave some time for yourself every now and then or else you’ll get burned out. You know what they say about all work and no play, right?”

“It makes you dull, I know,” Adora chuckled, her hand accidently upending an empty shot glass. “That’s a fair criticism, I guess.”

Her hand reached for a single white card, but Adora came back with three in total. Tossing the other two away, she read off the remaining slip to precipitate the next round – “If I was in a coma, how long would you wait for me?”

“Yeesh,” Glimmer guffawed, “that feels a little grim, yeah?”

“It totally is,” Adora agreed, “but I also want to know your answer.”

After a quick ponder, Glimmer put forth a modest proposal. “Okay, if you were in a coma…I’d probably wait like, a year or so. If your health was stable, maybe longer. But I wouldn’t want you to suffer, otherwise.”

“Wow, a whole year!” Adora’s tone sounded sarcastically celebratory, but she was actually impressed at her roommate’s answer. “I’m not even sure I’d give me a whole year.”

“Oh, you deserve that much,” Glimmer chided while reaching across the table and slapping Adora’s hand.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be sure to write that into my will.”

With that, Glimmer drew a fresh white card. Despite her earlier exuberance, this card actually gave her some pause.

“Oh…we can probably skip this one,” she offered without revealing the card’s contents.

Shaking her head, Adora insisted that they play on. “Naw, let me hear it. We’ve already answered worse, I’m sure.”

“Okay then…but I warned you.” Reading over the card once more, Glimmer announced the latest prompt – “Is there anything you’d like to apologize for?”

As she processed the question, Adora felt a slight stinging in the corners of her eyes. The booze were getting to her, no doubt, and the small tears welling up were a sure sign of how much she’d had at this point. Her mind had immediately raced to the ideal apology, but it was trapped in her throat, for fear that it would dampen the jovial mood.

But despite her best efforts, she couldn’t keep the several tears from falling, just where Glimmer could see. Worried that she’d prompted something disagreeable, the pink-haired woman tried to back-track. “Hey, it’s alright. You don’t have to answer it.”

Feeling that a few more inebriated tears were coming, Adora inhaled sharply and shook her head. “No, I should. Because there’s a lot of things I should apologize for to you, of all people.”

“Where to start, though? I mean, I’m sorry for basically ghosting you during senior year. You’re right, I was way too focused on my classes and my internship and I let that get in the way of…us. Believe me, I didn’t mean for things to end like that. I wanted to fix it, too, after graduation. But you had moved away by then and I was afraid you wouldn’t give me a second chance.”

After wiping away a few stray tears, Adora went on. “Plus, my mom was putting so much pressure on me at that point. As soon as I got into Bright Moon, she had this grand plan that I’d graduate and take over Black Garnet Inc. I thought I wanted that, too, at first. But once I saw what all of that added commitment was doing to my personal life, I couldn’t go through with it. I’m sorry that I didn’t realize that sooner.”

Seeing someone so close to her heart cry like that brought tears to Glimmer’s eyes. It was clear that Adora was spilling her heart a bit, which hit home with Glimmer instantly. She wasn’t sure how to reply, though, not without crying a bit herself.

With a heavy sigh, Glimmer tried to reconcile the moment. “It’s okay, I understand. I mean, I don’t think I tried very hard to keep things going, either. I got complacent of what we had and figured it would last, even if I wasn’t always giving it my all. I could apologize for that, I guess.”

Smiling a bit through a teary laugh, Adora disputed, “I think the card only wanted me to apologize.”

“Well, I’m doing it anyway,” Glimmer argued, her own smile curling back any further tears. “Sorry for sorta ruining the mood, too.”

With the wave of regret now passed, Adora tried to smile fully again. “You really didn’t, though. That needed to be said like, two years ago. And now it has been said.”

Maybe it was the multitude of shots she’d ingested over the past hour and a half. Maybe it was the subtle shift in mood over the past few minutes. But Glimmer felt like if she was going to be fully honest, now was the time.

“I want to say something else, too.”

Adora just looked on intently, so Glimmer confessed her thoughts.

“If I’m being real, part of me still misses back then – a lot. Being with you felt different – better than anything I had before or since.”

She was in the deep end now, pushed in by some Dutch courage. But she didn’t feel like she could let off the gas now. Braking wasn’t an option, after all this time.

“I’m still trying to get over it, and maybe I’ll get there. But I just wanted you to know where I am. I don’t want to pressure you or anything but…I might as well be honest with my best friend.”

While Glimmer was speaking, Adora had poured another set of shots. After her roommate finished, she slid over the vodka and suggested, “how about a toast to honesty?”

“Sure. One more for the road.”

With a clink, the pair downed their shots and slammed their glasses back to the table in near unison. Looking over at each other, it was clear in their inebriated eyes that they both were ready to hit the town.

“Before we go,” Glimmer requested, “how about just ooooone more card?”

Though she was already in the process of clumsily tying her shoes, Adora consented. “Alright, hit me with it.”

Unintentionally, Glimmer drew a card from the middle of her deck. The pile had been knocked askew earlier while reaching for a bottle. A quick read of the card made Glimmer want to toss it aside – it was asking too much, plain and simple. But at the same time, she secretly wanted Adora to say “yes” to it, just this once.

“Sit on my lap and look intimately into my eyes for one minute or take a shot.”

Adora sat up stalk straight and stared off toward the distant end of the apartment. Through the haze of her imbibements, she thought she’d just heard Glimmer request that she sit on her lap – as if it were a humble request any roommate would make. Even if this was just a part of the game, Adora’s heart raced at the thought because she knew that saying “no” wasn’t an option. After all, as soon as the dare was made, she knew that she wanted to take it.

At the same time, Adora knew that she needed to keep her cool, now more than ever. Jumping up and agreeing immediately might sound too eager, which Adora admittedly was. But Glimmer didn’t need to know that. Ideally, this last stunt would go quickly and a minute later, they’d be out the door, enjoying the cool evening air between clubs, just like old times.

But as soon as she flashed back to reality, Adora’s master plan unraveled. All on its own, her right hand reached for one of the nearby bottles, as if to signal her intent to drink on the dare. But with surprising grace, she turned her reaching motion into a stabilizing motion. With her right hand planted, she pushed herself to her feet and wobbled slightly at the end of the table.

As it happened, Glimmer watched in a slight state of awe. As the card slipped out of her loosened grip, her mind raced. _Wait…is she actually going to do it?_

In the process of the card being read, Adora had only managed to tie one of her shoes. As a result, her saunter around the far end of the table looked ever so clumsy, but not enough to signal any severe imbalance. Instead, Adora managed to keep her poise enough to swing around to Glimmer’s end of the table and, with considerable momentum, plop down squarely in her roommate’s lap.

“Oh, like this?”

Adora’s playful tone was almost too much for Glimmer to handle, notwithstanding the rush of feeling the blonde’s weight on her again. The dual-threat caused her to audibly gasp, which was fortunately covered up by the scratch of their chair across the hardwood floor. That noise couldn’t obscure Glimmer’s mad blush, though, which blossomed across her face from the moment Adora stepped in her direction. The accompanying warmth was almost an afterthought as well, thanks to her own well-oiled state.

“Oh, ummm…yeah, I think so.” Glimmer managed to choke out a response, though she felt her lungs tightening with each word. But despite that, she was in for a penny, in for a pound at this point.

“The card says you have to look into my eyes, too.”

Adora shifted herself on Glimmer’s lap so that she was sitting side-saddle. From there, she whipped her head around lazily, her blonde ponytail brushing into Glimmer’s face along the way. Her tone again said, “playful,” but Glimmer couldn’t help but hear more in it.

“Like so?”

As she said it, Adora locked her bluebell eyes onto Glimmer, who again gasped under her breath. A passing glance in the right light had always made Adora’s eyes radiate like a clear vernal sky. But from this distance, Glimmer could again appreciate why she’d fallen for them, and hadn’t forgotten them since.

“Yeah, just like that.”

At first, Glimmer wondered how long she could sustain this eye contact without losing her nerve and looking away. But, like Adora, she felt herself settle in after the first few seconds, with the comfort of her companion’s gaze growing more familiar and welcoming with each passing second.

Soon, the requisite minute elapsed, though neither woman signaled a desire to end their engagement. Instead, they both remained very still…or at least that appeared to be the case at first. As a second and third minute were tacked on, Glimmer could have sworn that her taller friend was leaning down slightly, with her face growing closer and closer.

By the fourth and fifth minute, Glimmer realized that the effect was more than a spirit-based hallucination. Adora really was leaning in, her face now mere inches from her own. All along, Adora’s eye contact remained steady, as if she were trying to keep a close watch on a distant star.

Sensing the tension growing in the space between them, Glimmer whispered, “I’ve missed this.”

Adora’s eyes fluttered slowly in a long, intentional blink. Regret was already bubbling up in her gut, fearful that Glimmer wouldn’t reciprocate if she leaned in just a bit further. But seeing Glimmer this close again, this candidly again, allowed her turn that all off for the second it took to close the gap.

“I’ve missed this, too.”

Their lips met and the distance was closed instantly. Nostalgia rushed into their hearts as they silently remembered this feeling that time and change hadn’t managed to deaden. Their kiss was just as they mutually remembered, yes, but both of them now wanted this to be more than a shadow of their former intimacy.

Glimmer felt herself recoil slightly at first contact, as if a static shock had arced between their locked lips. But as the initial fright passed, Glimmer felt herself lean in and return the gesture in kind. This could have been a dream for all she cared, but she wanted it to last and last and last all the same.

The couple remained locked in their embrace for many minutes more, to the point that their initial one minute threshold became a distant memory. In the process, Adora’s hands found their way around the sides of Glimmer’s head, with her fingers combed into the smaller woman’s vibrant locks – just as they always used to. Glimmer, meanwhile, found her hands grabbing at whatever they could find – primarily, Adora’s firm shoulders and sides.

Finally, when she felt the need for air clawing at her lungs, Adora pulled back and looked at her roommate once more. Glimmer knew her expression looked dumbstruck – how else was she supposed to feel? Even as Adora returned to her feet and made her way back to the other side of the table, Glimmer thought she had imagined it all in a fugue state. Soon, Adora would shout her name, she’d snap back to reality, and this fantasy would end.

But the pinch never came. Adora dutifully finished tying her shoes and rose again, looking over at Glimmer in the process. Neither managed to say anything more, with their prior actions speaking for themselves. But for a moment, Glimmer couldn’t mistake the satisfied look on Adora’s face. She could have sworn, too, that the blonde had winked in her direction as she walked to the door.

All Glimmer could manage now was to don her own shoes and ready herself mentally for the revelries yet to come. Adora ended up leading the way, passing out the front door and into the stairwell as Glimmer hit the lights. Once the door was locked, Glimmer turned to see Adora smiling at her fondly, her gaze again locked on its favorite sight.

Even as they descended the stairs to the street together, Glimmer couldn’t believe what had just happened. So many questioned rushed through her head - none of which a set of game cards could prompt. Perhaps she could get Adora to explain herself later on…or maybe another kiss would suffice.

But even without the clarity she craved, Glimmer knew with certainty that this night out – and their life together in this downtown apartment – just got a lot more interesting.


End file.
